The bombshell traffic scandal that broke open in New Jersey this week brought down a trio of top advisers to Gov. Chris Christie: a high school mate whose passion for politics bordered on obsessive; a onetime campaign staffer for John McCain and Rudy Giuliani; and an ex-statehouse staffer who once headed her small town’s Republican club.

Here’s a look at the Christie allies at the center of the drama unfolding in the Garden State and reverberating across the country.

David Wildstein

David Wildstein, a former New Jersey Port Authority official who resigned last month, has been a fixture of New Jersey politics in various forms since at least age 23.

Wildstein, now 52, is a former town council member, mayor, political operative, anonymous political writer and founder of the respected site PolitickerNJ.com. He and Christie both attended Livingston High School, though Wildstein was a year ahead of Christie and the extent of their relationship then is unclear.

By 2010, Wildstein was brought on by a Christie appointee to serve as director of interstate capital projects for Port Authority, though Christie stressed in a press conference Thursday that the two rarely spoke during Wildstein’s tenure there.

But his time in New Jersey politics far predates the Port Authority post. Wildstein has long been considered a political animal and some have described him as ruthless: Reports last month indicated that he bought the domain names of more than 50 people, including many New Jersey Democrats.

“I love this [political] stuff,” said one individual who worked closely with Wildstein, “He was psychotic about it, I could beat most people in political trivia; I couldn’t last with him for two minutes.”

At 23, Wildstein was elected to town council in Livingston, N.J., for a four-year term. During that period, he went on to become the city’s mayor, according to a lengthy 2012 profile in The Record (N.J.), which this week broke the bridge story.

“It was a tumultuous time,” Wildstein’s council running mate, Thomas L. Adams, told the paper. “He was just a kid, a very ambitious kid.”

Wildstein, who at age 12 volunteered for then-congressional candidate Tom Kean Sr., went on to work for several New Jersey politicians, including Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) and the late Rep. Bob Franks (R-N.J.), the latter of whom he served as an adviser, the report noted.

He launched PolitickerNJ.com — then called PoliticsNJ.com — in 2000 under the pen name “Wally Edge,” named for a former New Jersey GOP governor and senator. Wildstein, burly and bespectacled, was known for getting insider information from politicos on both sides of the aisle.

“He was not a Christie-o-phile back then,” said the source who has worked closely with Wildstein, who is married with children.

“Wally Edge” was known for driving the New Jersey political conversation with frequent, sometimes flippant, posts.

“I’ve never met anybody … with more thorough institutional knowledge of New Jersey politics,” said Steve Kornacki, who got his start in journalism under Wildstein and now hosts a weekend show on MSNBC.

News of his identity shocked New Jersey politicos.

“After more than ten years covering New Jersey politics, it’s time for me to retire,” he wrote in a statement at the time. “Founding PolitickerNJ.com has been a tremendous journey, spanning six governors and seven statewide elections. New Jersey has an amazing political history, many talented (political) operatives, and a huge number of very good people.”

Bill Stepien

Bill Stepien, 36, has been in Christie’s inner circle since the start of the governor’s rise in New Jersey politics — and before the Bridgegate scandal, was among the aides seen as possible campaign managers for a Christie 2016 campaign.

Just days before the emails released showed Stepien’s involvement in the George Washington Bridge scandal, Christie announced that he had chosen Stepien to lead the New Jersey GOP, calling him “the best Republican operative in the country.” Stepien had looked poised to lead the state Republican Party, but Christie shut down that option on Thursday.

Stepien managed Christie’s successful 2009 gubernatorial bid and has been with the governor in official and campaign roles ever since. After Christie was inaugurated in 2010, Stepien became Christie’s deputy chief of staff for legislative and intergovernmental affairs in the governor’s office. He then jumped back over to the campaign side to run Christie’s reelection bid in 2013.

One New Jersey newspaper described Stepien as “low key” and said he generally avoids getting quoted about Christie.

The aide was set to follow Christie to the Republican Governors Association as a top political adviser when the New Jersey chief executive became chairman late last year; but on Thursday, Christie indicated that Stepien wouldn’t work for the RGA. The organization’s executive director, Phil Cox, previously praised Stepien, saying he “has proven he knows how to win challenging governors’ races in blue states” and that his “expertise and leadership will be critical to our efforts.”

Before joining Christie’s inner circle, Stepien had a long history in Republican national politics: He served as national field director for John McCain’s 2008 presidential bid and in the same role for New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s 2008 campaign. He also has worked for the RNC as its 72-hour campaign director in 2005 and 2006, and as President George W. Bush’s New Hampshire political director in the 2004 election.

Bridget Anne Kelly

On Thursday, Christie unleashed his legendary wrath on Bridget Anne Kelly, his deputy chief of staff for legislative and intergovernmental affairs.

She was fired after emails highlighting her role in closing lanes in Fort Lee, N.J., apparently tied to political calculations, came to light this week.

“Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee,” she wrote in what has quickly become an infamous email exchange.

Kelly, 41, joined Team Christie during his 2009 gubernatorial bid. Previously, she worked for Republican Assemblyman David Russo, starting as an aide and ultimately becoming his chief of staff. Calls to Russo’s office were not returned on Thursday.

Kelly’s social media profiles on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn were shuttered by Thursday, and her biggest online presence appeared to be posts on a reunion website for her alma mater, Mount St. Mary’s University, a Catholic school in Emmitsburg, Md. Local news reports indicate that the mother of four was respected on both sides of the aisle in the statehouse, and news of her involvement in the scandal shocked political observers.

Kelly, of Ramsey, N.J., previously served as the president of her town’s Republican club. Immaculate Heart Academy, a Catholic school in nearby Township of Washington, lists a Bridget Daul Kelly in its hall of fame. According to public records, Kelly’s maiden name is Daul.